PATTI CATHCART is a remarkable vocalist, one who has been compared to some of the greatest names in jazz. Tuck Andress is a sensational guitarist. Together, they are Tuck and Patti — one of the most popular vocal-and-guitar duos in history.

What makes the first half of the Tuck and Patti combination so special is Andress’ amazingly nimble guitar work. Guitar fans are in awe of this player. He uses a technique that combines plucking, strumming and slapping the strings, often with both hands, and the result can sound like there’s more than one guitarist in the mix. Cathcart holds up her end with a voice that is as lush and warm as just about any in the business.

Give yourself a little post-Thanksgiving Day treat by attending a Tuck and Patti gig this weekend. The duo performs 8 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 7 and 9 p.m. Sunday at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. Tickets are $22-$26. Call 510-238-9200 or visit http://www.yoshis.com.

— Jim Harrington

Catching Zanes’ train

Dan Zanes, who used to be the lead singer of the alt-rock 1980s band the Del Fuegos, has a new gig these days.

He’s touring the kid circuit and putting out much-loved albums of traditional American folk songs, dance classics, globally influenced jams and an ever-increasing number of originals.

This weekend, Zanes and his band are performing three shows at Zellerbach Hall on the UC Berkeley campus as part of the Cal Performances season.

Zanes, along with friends Colin Brooks (percussion), Sonia de Los Santos (guitar, vocals), John Foti (accordion), Elena Moon Park (violin) and rapper Rankin’ Don (aka Father Goose), plans to celebrate all kinds of cultures and throw a musical party the entire family will enjoy.

Eric Schlosser, the McBane of McDonalds’ existence, appears at a City Arts and Lectures event in San Francisco Nov. 29. Schlosser is the journalist who exposed dangerously unwholesome aspects of the fast food industry in his scathing 2001 best-seller, “Fast Food Nation.”

Schlosser recently co-authored “Chew On This: Everything You Don’t Want to Know About Fast Food,” a version of his adult title aimed at middle schoolers. The author isn’t just disgusted by unsanitary butchering practices or the fact that McDonalds flavors its fries artificially. He’s angry that fast food restaurants market unhealthy food to children so successfully.

The event is at 8 p.m. at the Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave. Tickets are $19. Call 415-392-4400 or visit http://www.cityarts.net.

— Kathleen Grant Geib

New season

With new direction and new directors, the African-American Shakespeare Company has announced its 2007-08 season.

The company’s annual holiday spectacular, “Cinderella,” returns for a run beginning Dec. 7 and continuing through Dec. 30 at the African-American Art and Culture Complex’s Buriel Clay Theatre in San Francisco, where AASC is the resident theater company.

The new year brings some Shakespeare with “The Comedy of Errors” March 28 through April 13. Raelle Myrick-Hodges directs. Moliere’s “Tartuffe” arrives next summer (July 11-Aug. 3) in a production headed by Benny Sato Ambush.

The season also brings a workshop series that began in October with “Carmen Jones” and continues in February with Robert Henry Johnson’s “The Othello Papers” directed by renowned Bay Area actor L. Peter Callender. The final workshop is “Alice and the Wonderland Revue” in May, written and directed by Everett Alexander.